Sports are getting safer and the daily obstacles/tribulations of life must be eradicated.

The unanticipated problem, however, is there exists a deeply ingrained need for both genders to display and observe displays.

Therefore, stopgap (and rather ineffective) methods have been created and popularized.

Loosely stated, they are:

Video games for men.

BDSM and cutting for women.

It’s no surprise that both 50 Shades of Grey and cutting [by which I really mean self-harm, in general] are extremely popular (although one of the two is, at least ostensibly, viewed as negative).

The growing popularity of the two was to be expected as they are ways for women to state they are empowered (by choosing and controlling the source of harm) while they are actually communicating how much punishment they can take (read: how resilient they are).

Other dark forms of female power displays are:

Martyr complexes.

And “dating assholes”.

Both of those show, with a façade of humility, that said woman is exceptionally resilient.

In less prosperous/more dangerous times, there was little need to utilize such action to provide evidence.

One’s life experiences were plainly visible and known as communities were nowhere near as atomized.

This is the reason the preponderance of fairy tales, which originated in those turbulent days, revolve around the put-upon young woman, in terrible circumstances, that finds her prince.

A prince that, due to the woman’s proven resilience, finds her all the more attractive for it.

Realize, the prince sees her, rightly so, as more appreciative.

Less demanding.

More cheerful.

And hardier of spirit than his countless other options.¹

Lastly, a wise prince knows:

A woman is far less inclined to prepare a feast of drama if she’s been force-fed it for a few years.

Ω

¹ = The extremely popular blogger Judgey Bitch is, in reality, one of those women. She’s shared her personal history, many times.

I have a friend, J♣, that is easily one of the funniest, wittiest men I have ever known.

Having done stand-up comedy myself for a couple years, meeting and working with professionals, along with associating with a rather large pool of people, the regard with which I hold him speaks volumes of his talent.

However, one thing has plagued him throughout his life more than anything else:

The fact he is an abject failure with women even though he possesses a “great sense of humor”.

After all, that quality is second only to “confidence” in women’s well-known checklist.

Therefore, it comes as no surprise that he’d be – and is – so frustrated at what he considers a falsely stated desire.

Accordingly, he believes women are lying.

His evidence is his romantic solitude along with the fact that comedians don’t get laid like rock stars.

He is, of course, wrong.

He makes the same mistake countless men do.

Which is to believe men and women utilize the same qualifiers in their definitions.

See, at its core, a sense of humor is a defense mechanism against terrible life events.

However, what each gender considers a “terrible life event” often differs.

This is why men and women rarely, if ever, like the same comedic persons.